Obama: Funding Planned Parenthood is Important for My Daughters

by Fr. Ben Johnson –
President Barack Obama again invoked his daughters as reasons to support the abortion industry in a campaign stop in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday.

“Mr. Romney wants to get rid of funding for Planned Parenthood,” the president told nearly 1,000 donors at the Oregon Convention Center. “I think that is a bad idea. I’ve got two daughters. I want them to control their own health care choices. We’re not going backwards; we’re going forwards.”

The reference echoes a comment he made in 2008 on the campaign trail. “I’ve got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

In yesterday’s remarks, the president applied the same phrase he used of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider, to his health care law. “The Supreme Court has spoken. We are now implementing it,” he said. “Thirty million people will have health insurance that didn’t have it before. Women will have control of their health care choices.” The comment drew a boisterous ovation.

President Obama later drew another contrast with Romney, saying, “I believe in bottom-up economics.” He pledged to continue “investing in clean energy and making sure that solar panels and wind turbines are built here in the United States of America.”

At several points he punctuated the speech, which highlighted his support of a number of left-of-center positions, with the phrase, “We’re not going backwards; we’re going forwards.”

The 37-minute speech came before two additional fundraisers: A $5,000-a-plate fundraiser with 200 donors and a $38,500-a-plate fundraiser with 20 donors.

The speech contained a notable reference, as the president cited the Declaration of Independence’s guarantee that “we were endowed with certain inalienable rights by our Creator, life and liberty and this pursuit of happiness.” He has a history of omitting the words “by our Creator” in past speeches.